This question has arisen a number of times in our Game Group especially concerning the Goblin's power of conquering In Decline lands for 1 less token. We had pretty much accepted that they are not In Decline and that Goblins must pay full price.

The query has come up again because of a sentence in the rulebook of Necromancer Island. The first sentence under Other Rules says:

Other players always consider Ghosts as In Decline (like Lost Tribes); so they cannot strike a diplomatic pact with them, etc.

The comment in question is the bit in brackets. (Like Lost Tribes). So are Lost Tribes In Decline or not? Any thoughts?

This question has arisen a number of times in our Game Group especially concerning the Goblin's power of conquering In Decline lands for 1 less token. We had pretty much accepted that they are not In Decline and that Goblins must pay full price.

The query has come up again because of a sentence in the rulebook of Necromancer Island. The first sentence under Other Rules says:

Other players always consider Ghosts as In Decline (like Lost Tribes); so they cannot strike a diplomatic pact with them, etc.

The comment in question is the bit in brackets. (Like Lost Tribes). So are Lost Tribes In Decline or not? Any thoughts?

It sounds like they are. They are the lost tribes, after all, and it makes sense that they're in decline since they are 'on their way out'.

I don't really see how it matters. I don't have necromancer island, so i don't know how the rules change, if they change, but no one receives coins for them and there is no payment that i know of so it is kind of a pointless query.

I don't really see how it matters. I don't have necromancer island, so i don't know how the rules change, if they change, but no one receives coins for them and there is no payment that i know of so it is kind of a pointless query.

I'd have to agree - it would be nice to know if EACH lost tribes token counts as an in decline race for purposes of determining how many coins a race with the Historian power gets when entering the game.

I had to jump in on this one...
I sense a conflict in terms and want to make sure that a previous clarification about the Historian special power doesn't get overturned when people see this thread. Eric, you seem to be saying that Lost Tribes don't count for the Historian, here:

eric

they are not a race, and thus don't count for Historian.

But here you seem to be saying that they do give the Historian a coin (which is what the previous clarifications have established):

eric

All lost tribes are considered In Decline. They count as a single In Decline race (for Historian scoring purposes, for instance).
eric

I see that you are sticking with the terminology on page 8 of the manual: "Lost Tribe or Race token." Others may not see it that way. Technically speaking the Lost Tribes are all-of-a-kind, but not a race (since they have no race badge.)

In either case, it was well-said by Robin that the broken pillar symbol is what should tip you off to the status of the Lost Tribes. THAT IS the in-decline symbol. I've also seen it pointed out on the forums that the Lost Tribes have the gray border that signifies a race is in decline.

In response to JJJ5543 I disagree. Your assumption that the rules somehow are changed in the Necromancer Island expansion is a wrong assumption. I believe the OP was simply stating that his reading of the Necromancer rules re-opened the discussion for his group over whether the Lost Tribes were in decline after all? (Therefore, it sounds like you may want to double-check YOUR interpretation as well.)

At this point, I think it's clear that:
1) Lost Tribes are treated the same as in-decline race tokens for purposes of conquest.
2) Lost Tribes--while not technically a race--DO count for the Historian's bonus.
3) The Lost Tribes are a sort of precedent for how the Necromancer's Ghost tokens should be treated (if you have that expansion.)

Hope this organization of the facts is a boon to the thread. Thanks Eric, as always, for taking time to keep us all running in the right direction.